The Paths Diverge - Outtakes
by Vaneria Potter
Summary: Expanded or missing scenes from my story "The Paths Diverge", which is required reading if you want this to make any sense. Requests are welcome.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the associated characters._

_Summary: having hit a block on some of my other stories, I decided to follow requests and flesh out a few scenes from "The Paths Diverge"._

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**THE FALLOUT OF THE LAKE**

The public reaction to a muggle being kidnapped to participate in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament had been disappointing, but not unexpected.

The Wizarding World in general didn't care about the rights of Muggles, unless it directly affected them. Other than paying for the Muggle-born to attend Hogwarts or occasionally marrying a witch or wizard, Muggles had nothing to do with the Wizarding World, and there was no need to borrow trouble or get stirred up over something that would blow over in a week.

The Ministry of Magic cared even less, as evidenced by the fact that standard practice for Obliviators was to go in and remove the memory, leaving the unfortunate witness to imagine all sorts of horrible things that could have caused the blank spots in their memory, and that no research had ever been conducted into the damage that could be caused by multiple Obliviations.

When an awkward situation came up, the preferred reaction was to find a scapegoat, make an example of them, and hope that the public moved onto something else quickly.

Of course, the Muggle-born and Half-blooded who remained in the Wizarding World would have kicked up a much larger stir about Natasja Irons (something of a quiet folk-heroine to some for proving that Muggle ancestry was nothing to be sneered at) being kidnapped... If they had known about it.

Most of them, unless they were somehow connected to a very powerful Pureblood family, had fled during the last war with Voldemort, which meant that most of the Muggle-borns and Half-bloods that remained were those who had been in school during Voldemort's War, and in positions where they had to rely on the media for news of what was happening in the world around them.

The Media, who normally pounced on such news-worthy stories faster than a cat on a mouse, did occasionally practice common sense. Despite four of their investigative journalists having known Tom Riddle personally, none of them had even considered running a story on Voldemort's origins. When Voldemort fell, they left the How's and Whys to the children's fiction writers and people who made a living studying magical theory.

As one editor had pointed out, anything involving Harry Potter sold wonderfully, but anything involving the Irons family tended to be a catalyst for upheaval. No-one was about to forget the chaos during the investigation of child safety, and the Irons' hadn't even been directly involved beyond stopping the Longbottom boy from drowning!

Instead, the Daily Prophet ran a smaller piece on the Second Task, not involving much more than Placing, scores, that the task involved retrieving someone from the mer-people in the Black Lake... And that a underling in the Department of Magical Games and Sports had been dismissed for ignoring rules and procedures in the lead up to the task.

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The Muggle in question, meanwhile, was lying in bed with a cold, a mug of lemon- ginger- and honey-infused hot water on her bedside table, and a pile of marking in her lap.

At least the Task had taken place on a weekend, so there were no awkward explanations to provide at work, and Henry had spelled the mug to maintain a constant temperature. Besides, her husband was only a phone call away if she needed him, and Harry was safely in the living room with his friends and their tutors.

While the incident had been very disturbing for her, thirteen years of motherhood had given Natasja a lot of practice in looking at the positives, and there had been no permanent damage. Her family was safe and happy for another few months (and hopefully after the Third Task was done, the quiet might actually last), and that was all she really wanted out of life.

Truly, the whole thing had been far more upsetting for Henry and Harry than for her. Natasja had been asleep for most of it, but her husband and son had gone through far more worry and stress.

* * *

Constable Henry Irons tried to focus on his paperwork, trying to remind himself that his wife was safe at home and would still be there when he returned.

Of course that didn't stop the nightmares of the past couple of nights - thankfully Natasja was a deep,sleeper - or the fear that led him to hold her closer at night as they slept, or constantly check on her whereabouts. His colleagues had been satisfied by vague mentions of Natasja catching I'll and the headmaster of Harry's old school trying to convince them to bring him back, even if it had earned teasing remarks about overprotective husbands.

But Henry had endured several hours of worrying when his wife hadn't returned from the early trip to the local market and wasn't answering her phone. Only the knowledge that there was a waiting period before someone was declared missing, that Natasja could defend herself against most attackers and that their son's well-being in the Triwizard Tournament came first, had made him go to Hogwarts that morning, instead of raising a bigger fuss.

Somehow, the fact that his wife could take out Bellatrix's LeStrange with only the contents of her kitchen had let him think that she was almost untouchable, and the Second Task was a vicious reminder that this wasn't the case.

* * *

Harry Potter-Irons had known from a young age that most of the Wizarding world had no common sense to speak of.

As such, it had been all too easy for him to assume that the clue had been telling the truth, and that if he didn't get "what he'd sorely miss" back within an hour, he wouldn't get it back at all. It was a good thing that he hadn't known that his mother was the hostage before the task, or things might have gone even worse.

Seeing his mother floating at the bottom of the lake, still and unresponsive, was going to haunt him for a long time.

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_A/N: So, outtake one is here! I hope you liked it._

_The actual request was for a public outcry against Dumbledore, but since the WW seems to rely on the Ministry and the Daily Prophet for information, and believes them with very little question, I didn't think it was very likely, so you got this instead._

_This will be updated infrequently, and based of requests from the readers_.


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